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Informal international bowling competition had been held as early as 1892 when a team of Americans played in a bowling "festival" in Hamburg, Germany. After the turn of the century, teams from New York made several more trips to Germany. A group of Americans toured Sweden in 1923 and 1929, then hosted a number of European teams in matches held in New York in 1934. The first attempt to create a tenpin bowl-ing organization on the Continent came in 1925. The group sponsored some scattered competition and in 1936 staged a series of bowling events concurrent with the summer Olympic Games in Berlin. More than 50 Americans made the trip, some today holding membership in the ABC Hall of Fame. It was the last international get-together of any consequence until the Federation Internationale des Quilleurs came on the scene in 1951.

Seven European nations sent teams to the first World tournament of the FIQ in Helsinki, Finland, in 1954. Nine took part at Essen, Germany, in 1955, a dozen at Halsingbord, Sweden, in 1958 and 15 at Hamburg in 1960. The World meet moved to Mexico in 1963, when it was put on a four-year basis, and back to Malmo, Sweden, in 1967. Milwaukee, Wis., was host city for the 1971 event when 32 nations competed. London was the host in 1975, with 32 countries again taking part. The United States entered world competition in 1963 and has been a dominant factor ever since.

The United States entered world competition in 1963 and has been a dominant factor ever since. FIQ competition is held in zones-American, European, and Asian-at four-year intervals. FIQ headquarters are in Zurich, Switzerland. FIQ competition is held for nonprofessionals, and gold, silver, and bronze medals are awarded to the first three place finishers. The American style of alternating lanes after each frame is used, plus two European styles, one in which an entire game is bowled on one lane, the other in which half the game is bowled on one lane, the second half on the other.

Japan, a member of the Asiatic zone, boasts a general membership in excess of 70,000, while Canada has a tenpin population of almost 70,000. Some other leadmg areas and their bowling population include Sweden, 21,000; Australia, 24,000; Mexico, 11,000; Finland, 10,000; and Venezuela, 7,500.

There are no bowling centers in the United States that can match Japan's 504 lanes, but there are 39 establishments with 64 or more lanes. The largest is Willow Grove Park lanes in suburban Philadelphia with 116. The only other with more than 100 is Edison lanes in Edison, New Jersey, with 112. There are about 8,800 bowling centers in the U.S. having 139,000 lanes. Canada has 153 centers with 2,105 lanes. All told, ABC certifies more than 144,000 lanes annually in 9,350 establishments, figures that are down from early 1960 peaks of 11,476 establishments and 165,000 lanes. More than $30 million is spent on equipment annually.
Bowling is recreation to some; sport to others. Some form of the game probably is played by more peoples of the world than any other, with the possible exception of soccer football. The overall appeal is endless.